GT

Sunday, 12 May 2013

Individual Post 6: Film Study

Matt and Vincent are the protagonists of The House of the Scorpion, and Gattaca. Right off the bat, an obvious similarity is the relationships between Vincent and Irene, and Matt and María. Both Matt and Vincent face troubles when María and Irene find out what they could look like. I find this interesting, but there are some differences. Matt, in the end, seems to keep his relationship with María, while Vincent decides he probably won't go back to earth. In both Gattaca and The House of the Scorpion, there are genetically inferior humans. Clones are made stupid, and Invalids are not allowed to do anything but menial tasks. They both want to be recognized as what their societies view as normal people. There are also some more major differences. One is that Matt was made just for his organs, whereas Vincent was still a "functioning part of society." Some other things are that Vincent can become a borrowed ladder, and Matt is stuck under the terrible title "Clone" until El Patrón dies.

I made some choice selections from the book, usually one for each point I made above:

He was ignored. Not mistreated, just ignored. Only María had to be dragged off, complaining loudly. (Farmer 64)

He would read and color and count until he became the best student in the whole world, and then the children would like him and they wouldn't run away. (Farmer 74)

"... You're not a dog. You're so much much more."
Ordinarily, Matt would have been thrilled by María's words, but the situation was too dire for happiness. (Farmer 217)

Why had the fierce man called him a “little beast”? And why
had Emilia told Maria he was a “bad animal”?

It had something
to do with being a clone and also, perhaps, the writing on his foot. (Farmer
34)